Scholarships for military children: Fisher House Foundation makes 500 awards
NOTE: To see a DeCA video related to this release, click here.
FORT GREGG-ADAMS, Va. – Fisher House Foundation has announced the winners of its annual Scholarships for Military Children program, which awards deserving children of U.S. service members scholarship grants, offering an early boost to their continued educational success.
This year, the nonprofit foundation awarded 500 children a $2,000 scholarship each for the upcoming 2024-2025 academic year. Fisher House created the program in 2001 in partnership with the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) to recognize the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force and to celebrate the commissaries’ role in enhancing the military’s quality of life.
Marshall Banks, director of community relations at Fisher House Foundation, highlighted ongoing enhancements to the online application process, aimed at meeting the increasing number of student applicants each year.
“The online application process for the 2024-2025 Scholarships for Military Children program was a resounding success,” he said. “Our team received over 4,000 applications again this year from 235 commissaries.” Banks went on to note that, due to the support from its generous donors, Fisher House Foundation has awarded $23,126,500 in scholarships over the past 24 years.
Each year, scholarship applicants submit their official transcript indicating a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale for high school applicants or a cumulative minimum GPA of 2.5 or above on a 4.0 scale for students already enrolled in college and an essay of 500 words or less, no longer than two pages.
Eligibility for the program is determined using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database. Applicants must ensure that they, as well as their sponsor, are enrolled in DEERS and have a current military dependent ID card. Applicants must also be planning to attend or already be attending an accredited college or university full-time in the fall of 2024, or be enrolled in a program of studies designed to transfer directly into a four-year program.
Applicants who have been awarded a full scholarship to attend a college or university, or who receive an appointment to one of the military academies or affiliated preparatory schools, are not eligible to receive funds from this program. A full scholarship is usually defined as one that provides for payment of tuition, books, lab fees and other expenses.
All rules and requirements for the program, as well as links to frequently asked questions are available at the Scholarships for Military Children website, as is the full list of this year’s winners.
DeCA Director and CEO John Hall attended a scholarship award ceremony at the Fort Gregg-Adams commissary in Virginia on July 18 to personally present four local student winners with certificates honoring their efforts.
“This is really quite an achievement, so congratulations to the awardees and congratulations to their parents,” Hall said.
Hall added that as a father, he could imagine the parents’ state of mind. “Having put four children through college, I know you’re going through two emotions right now,” he said. “One, you’re really proud of your child, justifiably so. You’re really proud of your child for achieving this. But the second emotion I know you’re going through is ‘Thank God! I’m saving two thousand dollars here!’ It's okay to go through both of those, and I congratulate you all because I know you had lot to do with this, too – the way you raised your children to be able to achieve this.”
“The window to apply for the 2025 Fisher House Scholarships should open in December and close sometime in February, but the exact dates have not been set yet,” said Todd Heasley, DeCA’s scholarships program liaison. “Be sure to check the scholarship page in December for the date of the opening, as well as the new essay question for the year.”
Fisher House Foundation also has a custom scholarship search engine tailored to military families, called “Scholarships for Service.” It’s free, easy to use, and available on mobile devices or computers at militaryscholar.org.
Fisher House Foundation is ranked a four-star charity by Charity Navigator. No government funds are used to support the Scholarships for Military Children program. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers and the general public donate money to fund the program.
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About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees, disabled veterans and other authorized patrons and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which supports the costs of building, modernizing and sustaining commissary facilities. A core military family support element and valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military services and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.